Councils clash and vow to fight £11bn metro “takeover plot”

Leaders of both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire County Council have expressed “serious concerns” over what they are calling “secret plans” by Nottingham and Derby City Councils to expand their boundaries.

In a joint statement, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire County Councils say the plans to create a ‘unified metropolitan area’ could see large areas of both counties − Amber Valley, Ashfield, Broxtowe, Derby, Erewash, Gedling, Nottingham, Rushcliffe and South Derbyshire − swallowed up and lumped together into a huge new authority.

County Council Leaders, councillor Barry Lewis (Derbyshire) and councillor Kay Cutts (Nottinghamshire) say they were only informed about plans for the first time last week, just days before the publication of the plan − called The Economic Case for the Derby-Nottingham Metro − and following months of work behind the scenes by the cities.

Cutts said: “Despite regular contact between the county and city, there has been no discussion, no consultation and no suggestion from the City Council that this piece of work was being done. I feel let down – and so should the people of both counties and both cities. Only last week, I sat in the same room as the Chief Executive of Derby City and the Leader of Nottingham City at a D2N2 board meeting discussing a raft of joint economic initiatives, without any mention of this.

Councillor Lewis said: “This really has come as a bolt out of the blue. It’s extremely disappointing that county and district councils whose residents would be affected by these proposals weren’t invited to be involved in the development of the plans.

“We already work closely with city, county and district councils through the local enterprise partnership and Midlands Engine. I’m very keen that we continue to work together but taking the whole of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire into consideration.

“Residents will see through plans for a ‘metro’ authority for what it is − a land grab to take funding from county towns and villages to pump into the cities.”

Councillor Lewis dismissed claims in the report − which is alleged to have been commissioned by the two city councils at a cost of £100,000 − that forming a Metro authority could bring £11bn to the area.

He said: “It takes a long time to arrive at a sensible figure for what we want to achieve for regional growth and outlining numbers is just pie in the sky.

“We need to sit down as a region and look at how we can lever in more funding for the whole of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. That’s the area councils were encouraged to look at by the Government when they were progressing a devolution deal and this proposal for a metro area flies in the face of that.

“At the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for − to serve the public by providing services, driving economic growth and creating jobs. We have a duty to get the best deal for all our residents and I’d urge the cities to sit down with ourselves and colleagues in Nottinghamshire to have a sensible discussion about how we’re going to achieve that.”

Meanwhile, Derby and Nottingham City Councils have welcomed the report, which says the approach could give an £11bn boost to the economy

Councillor Ranjit Banwait, leader of Derby City Council, said: “We launched our Metro Strategy earlier this year which gave the two cities a framework to pursue joint working. An example of this is our shared Gym and Swim offer for residents using our Council leisure facilities.”

“This report however really challenges us to take a more ambitious step and work purposefully across a larger metro area with a greater range of partners. Metro Dynamics present a well-argued case with strong evidence that we really could achieve more. While clearly not without challenges, I think it is an exciting development and hope Derby and Nottingham residents will share that view.”

Councillor Jon Collins, leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “This report underlines the major benefits closer collaboration across the metro area can bring.

“One issue it highlights is the considerable underfunding we have experienced as an area in terms of Government spending and infrastructure investment.

“As the report states, although we are a similar size economically to the Greater Manchester city region, the wider Derby-Nottingham metro area receives lower government spending per person. If spending were equivalent to Manchester we would gain an additional £1.1bn.

“We will consider the report’s findings and recommendations in depth and discuss with neighbours and partners how we can take a combined approach, going beyond political and organisational interests and boundaries to make the most of the opportunities presented.”